CCTV boss Zhu Tong: 'Chinese media has been objective, fair and positive in Africa-related reports'; now reaches 31 million African TV households.

China says its news coverage of Africa "has been objective, fair and positive in Africa-related reports" and that its CCTV News channel carried by both MultiChoice's DStv and StarTimes' StarSat now reaches more than 31 million African TV households.

Zhu Tong, the deputy editor-in-chief at China Central Television (CCTV) spoke on Tuesday at the first China-Africa Media Leadership Summit that was held in Africa.

The summit, to cement greater cooperation between China and Africa saw 200 representatives from across Africa and China converge in Cape Town, South Africa and was co-organised by Naspers and China's StarTimes pay-TV operator.

CCTV's 24-hour TV news channel in English, CCTV News (DStv 409 / StarSat 266) is currently carried on MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV platform DStv as well as on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media South Africa's StarSat.

MultiChoice forms part of Naspers' pay-TV division, while StarSat is part of the StarTimes conglomerate.

CCTV News, through its production centre CCTV Africa production office in Nairobi, Kenya, brodcasts shows like the daily Africa Live.

"Chinese and Africa media is like family," said Zhu Tong.

"I believe that this media summit will bring us onto the track of fast development in communicating with each other, promoting mutual understanding and inclusiveness, and deepening cooperation and consensus and will open up a new era of win-win cooperation between Chinese and African media."

"Chinese media has been objective, fair and positive in Africa-related reports," said Zhu Tong at the summit.

"A survey by Oxford University finds that 'Chinese media platforms in Africa, including CCTV Africa, have formed a strategy to advocate a perspective to look at Africa differently from that of Western media".

"What CCTV Africa reports is an uprising, promising continent, not Africa struggling with hunger, wars and backwardness," said Zhu Tong.

"CCTV has long taken an objective and fair stance, a positive and upbeat keynote, a unique and positive perspective and warm languages in reporting Africa-related affairs".

Zhu Tong says CCTV has actively worked to launch its international CCTV News channel in Africa.

"By early October this year, CCTV News had reached 56 African countries and regions by signing contracts with local TV agencies and through unencrypted satellite coverage, now reaching 31.78 million Africa households."

"So far, mainstream TV stations in Kenya, Seychelles, Uganda, Namibia and Lesotho have broadcast many outstanding programmes made by China, including Africa Live produced by CCTV Africa," said Zhu Tong.

CCTV News and CCTV Africa hard at work at building positive perceptions through television news of China and Africa.

China is flexing its media muscle in Africa and continues to grow its influence on Africa's television viewers and strengthening Sino-African perceptions through its CCTV News (DStv 409) channel which is giving constant, and overtly positive coverage to, and of, African stories.

It's also visible through bigger profile coverage on other TV sources such as South Africa's eNCA (DStv 403) channel.

Other 24-hour international news channels and international media platforms have remained slow and reluctant to cover Africa - or mostly keep with outdated stereotypical images of starving African children beset with flies, poverty, war and hopelessness.

CCTV News's African division, CCTV Africa is now pro-actively busy with changing the television news agenda of how Africa's stories and coverage is framed.

CCTV Africa, with its headquarters based in Nairobi, Kenia, is working hard on a transformative television news experience when it comes to covering the continent and by showing mostly positive profiles and TV news stories which are more balanced and less negative.

A year ago CCTV in partnership with MultiChoice, the Africa continent's biggest pay-TV platform, started the Great Wall bouquet - a separate Chinese channels bouquet with channels provided by China's state-run China Central Television (CCTV).

It was also a year ago that CCTV News started the daily dedicated hour long show Africa Live, providing viewers across Africa on CCTV News with news coverage, profile stories as well as breaking and leading news stories of the day of about what is happening in Africa as the CCTV Africa production office came into operation.

Besides the daily Africa Live, CCTVN has Talk Africa, the weekly talk and current affairs show with presenter Beatrice Marshall.

There also the documentary strand, Faces of Africa, on CCTV News which is a profile documentary series chronicling African leaders and positive role models like a female pilot in Ghana for instance.

Although CCTV Africa is headquarted in East Africa with a production staff of now almost 70 people, CCTV Africa and CCTV News has aggressive expansion plans. CCTV Africa is on an ambitious roll-out plan for new news bureaux across the continent.

Guy Henderson who worked for the BBC and was at Al Jazeera is for instance already based in South Africa as a correspondent for CCTV Africa.

South Africa's 24-hour news channel eNCA (DStv 403) also got into the act with extremely positive Sino-Africa media relations, marked by breathless reporting this past week with eNCA's John Bailey who conducted an "exclusive" interview with China's new president Xi Jinping.

The eNCA was quick to stress that it was "granted the first international TV interview" with Xi Jinping "ahead of other 24-hour news networks".

Th e.tv and Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) publicity machine also went into overdrive to show Marcel Golding, the CEO of Sabido Investments (owner of e.tv and the eNCA) getting facetime with (and a photo-op!) with Xi Jinping in Beijing two weeks ago.

China which is heavily investing in Africa in order to secure energy and oil contracts as well as other resources for its own booming economy, is now ramping up its media relations, media coverage of Africa, and its media intercontinental ties with the continent, as part of that economic growth strategy.

As China's hunger for African resources grow to help supply its own energy demands, CCTV News is helping by building and fostering a positive image of China through not only portraying China positively through the state-run television news organisation, but also putting more of Africa's untold stories in a positive light.

That has the double-barrel effect of not only making Africa look good and China look good, but strengthening the overall relationship and business ties between African countries and China.

It's also giving viewers stories - and framing the continent - in a way never really seen before on television news about Africa before, interestingly being told by China and not by Africa itself.

China's CCTV News channel starts Africa Live, a new hour long show about Africa, as its CCTV Africa production office goes into operation.

China Central Television News (CCTVN) (DStv 409), China's 24 hour English news channel, just started a brand-new dedicated, daily, hour long news show about Africa, Africa Live, which can be seen at 19:00 (South African time) since yesterday.

The move is highly significant. Firstly CCTVN, and by implication China, is now following America and Britain with CNN International (DStv 401) and BBC World News (TopTV 400 / DStv 400) which both have dedicated TV reporters, production space and weekly programming specifically devoted to Africa besides rolling news coverage about the continent. (Sky News (DStv 402) also has a South African bureau; though no dedicated programming.) It indicates further, growing interest in the continent by yet another world power.

Secondly CCTVN opened its Africa bureau not in South Africa but in Nairobi, Kenia. It indicates that China has stronger ties with Kenia in general than South Africa, despite South Africa being the media industry leader on the continent with the best broadcasting fascilities. It's also CCTVN's first overseas bureau and production office.

CCTVN which calls the African office, CCTV Africa, plans to open 14 bureaus across Africa by the end of 2012 and news reporting is covering the entire continent.

Africa Live covers news, interviews and documentaries. CCTVN will also have talk shows and inserts such as Talk Africa.